Breastfeeding May Cut Heart Attack, Stroke Risk in Mothers: Study

A study claims that, breastfeeding is not only healthy for the baby, but also reduces the mother’s risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke later in life. Among mothers who breastfed each of their babies for two years or more, heart disease risk was 18 per cent lower and stroke risk was 17 per cent lower than among mothers who never breastfed, researchers said.

Breastfeeding is not only healthy for the baby, but also reduces the mother’s risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke later in life, a study claims.

Researchers, including those from the University of Oxford in the UK, found that compared to women who had never breastfed, mothers who breastfed their babies had a nine per cent lower risk of heart disease and an eight per cent lower risk of stroke.

Among mothers who breastfed each of their babies for two years or more, heart disease risk was 18 per cent lower and stroke risk was 17 per cent lower than among mothers who never breastfed, researchers said.

They also found that every six months of breastfeeding per baby was associated with a four per cent lower risk of heart disease and a three per cent lower risk of stroke.

“Although we cannot establish the causal effects, the health benefits to the mother from breastfeeding may be explained by a faster “reset” of the mother’s metabolism after pregnancy,” said Sanne Peters, from University of Oxford.

“Pregnancy changes a woman’s metabolism dramatically as she stores fat to provide the energy necessary for her baby’s growth and for breastfeeding once the baby is born,” Peters said.

“Breastfeeding could eliminate the stored fat faster and more completely,” she said.

Researchers analysed data from about 2,89,573 Chinese women with an average age of 51 years.

The participants provided detailed information about their reproductive history and other lifestyle factors. Nearly all were mothers and none had cardiovascular disease when they enrolled in the study.

After eight years of follow-up, there were 16,671 cases of coronary heart disease, which includes heart attacks, and 23,983 stroke cases.

The study was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.